


The Boombox - A Dramione One-Shot

by nztina



Series: The Hogwarts 1999 Series [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:07:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24265603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nztina/pseuds/nztina
Summary: Seamus Finnigan's dad gives him an enchanted boombox. Seamus only owns a cassette full of 80s love ballads. Naturally, Hermione and Draco share a moment...and a dance.
Relationships: Ginny Weasley/Blaise Zabini, Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy, Neville Longbottom/Pansy Parkinson
Series: The Hogwarts 1999 Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1751569
Comments: 13
Kudos: 65





	The Boombox - A Dramione One-Shot

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I’ve been part of the Dramione fandom since I was 13 but I’ve never written anything for it - this is my first attempt, ten years later. Let me know how I did!
> 
> This little one-shot is set in an AU, one year after the Second Wizarding War, where the surviving teenagers are given the option of coming back for an eighth year to complete their studies. The war criminals have been Obliviated (and are under strict observation) and all those found guilty of minor crimes have had mandatory therapy and thorough rehabilitation.
> 
> There are a small number of eighth-year students, and they have been given a separate common room and dormitories to allow them privacy from the rest of the school. The common room is shared between the houses as Professor McGonagall wanted to encourage inter-house amicability and peace.
> 
> xx Tina
> 
> Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter.

It was 5 o’clock in the evening and the common room was half-filled. Several eighth-years were on their shifts to monitor their old house common rooms and patrol the hallways, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley included.

Hermione Granger was sitting in an armchair. She was sitting incorrectly, Draco Malfoy observed from his seat on the sofa. Her back was resting against one arm and her legs were swung over the other. She was engrossed in a book, but when Seamus Finnigan set down a large contraption on the coffee table, both she and Draco snapped their heads in his direction.

“Oh my Gods, is that —?” Hermione stood up, walking over to Seamus.

“A boombox!” He looked at it proudly. “My da bought it for me! It’s charmed to work without electricity.”

Draco didn’t know what a boombox was, nor electricity, nor why Hermione Granger was so excited about the strange contraption. She knelt to look closer.

“Do you have any cassettes to play?” She pushed a button and static fizzled out of the box.

Seamus rifled through his trouser pocket and produced what Draco assumed was a cassette. By this time, everyone had gathered around. Draco watched as Hermione fiddled with the box and suddenly, music poured out of the machine. She jumped to her feet in joy.

“I love this song!”

“What is it?” Neville Longbottom asked. He was curious, having never seen a boombox, either.

“It’s a Muggle music player.” Seamus explained. “This is a Muggle song. It’s by one of the best Muggle bands in the world.”

“It’s the _best _band in the entire world, Seamus.” Hermione corrected, getting up from her crouched position. She addressed her fellow classmates. “It’s called _‘All My Loving' _and it’s by The Beatles.”____

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“Beetles?” Blaise Zabini gave Draco a funny look. The handful of students in the room who knew the song had gotten to their feet and started dancing with each other. The Slytherin students didn’t, obviously. Draco watched as Hermione grabbed Neville by the hands and pulled him over to a clear space to dance. Luna Lovegood was standing by the fireplace, wiggling her arms in the air, a distant look on her face. Draco had to admit that the song wasn’t terrible, and he found himself almost smiling when Neville dipped Hermione over his knee. Her face was pink and her curls touched the floor.

“Draco?” Pansy Parkinson tapped his shoulder. “Won’t you dance with me?” She looked nervous, but he knew she was trying to participate. She was making an attempt to be involved, like all the Slytherin students in their year. She had even let Ginny Weasley braid her hair the evening before.

“Uh,” Draco glanced back to the scene in front of him before tearing his eyes away to look at Pansy. He didn’t want to look like an idiot, but his rehabilitation officer told him to make a better effort in socialising. “Sure.”

They awkwardly tried to figure out how to dance to the Muggle song and were making little progress when someone touched Draco’s elbow. He turned, embarrassment flushing his face, to see Neville and Hermione smiling at him.

“Do you want us to show you?”

He could see Pansy swallowing her pride. She let go of Draco and took Neville’s hand. Draco was left with Hermione standing in front of him, looking at him expectantly. Just as he steeled himself to place a hand on her waist, the song changed. It was slower. He looked at the boombox, panicked. Hermione put one timid hand on his shoulder and slid the other into his free hand, forcing him to look at her.

“This one is called _“Can’t Fight This Feeling” _, she murmured, starting to move her feet. He followed her directions and tried very hard not to pay attention to her fuzzy cat socks or the lyrics of the song. Suddenly she twirled as the chorus began, and before long, he realised that he was leading. They were dancing.__

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He was dancing with Hermione Granger in front of everyone, to a love song.

“You’re doing great!” A voice broke his reverie and he looked at his dance partner, who shockingly seemed to be enjoying herself. For the first time since they met as first-years, he smiled at her sincerely. A laugh to his left made him look over to see Neville and Pansy dancing like they were the best of friends. It was odd. Oil and water mixing should have been more chaotic, but for whatever reason, coming back to Hogwarts to finish their studies was effortless. Maybe it was the fact that all the captured Death Eaters had been Obliviated, his father included. Maybe it was the desperation to cling to some normality after the previous year. Maybe it was people on both sides realising that enough of their loved ones had died. Whatever it was, Neville and Pansy were laughing and dancing in each others’ arms. As were Blaise and Ginny Weasley. As were he and Granger. He noticed that she was close enough for him to smell her shampoo. It was fruity. The music changed again.

_Many times I tried to tell you  
Many times I cried alone. ___

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“Granger,” he spoke softly, barely audible over the sound of the music. Her eyes were glazed over, her gaze fixed on a button on his shirt. She looked up. He looked at the smattering of gold flecks in her brown eyes.

_Always I’m surprised how well you cut my feelings to the bone  
Don’t want to leave you really. ___

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“What is it?”

_We belong to the light, we belong to the thunder  
We belong to the sound of the words we’ve both fallen under. ___

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“Thank you.”

She smiled up at him, and he wondered why he spent so many years trying to make her cry.

“For what?”

_Maybe it’s a sign of weakness when I don’t know what to say  
Maybe I just wouldn’t know what to do with my strength anyway. ___

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“For teaching me how to dance.”

She just smiled again, and let go of his hand to place it on his shoulder. Automatically, he dropped his hand to her waist and suddenly, they were closer than before. Now he could actually feel the warmth coming off her body and he wondered how someone so full of life and light could bear to be so near to someone like him, someone so cold.

_We belong to the light, we belong to the thunder  
We belong to the sound of the words we’ve both fallen under   
Whatever we deny or embrace for worse or for better  
We belong, we belong, we belong together. _

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His face must have conveyed the questions running through his head because she lifted a soft hand to his face, her palm against his jaw.

“Don’t think so hard, Draco.” His name tumbled out of her mouth so casually. Like they were friends. He shot a nervous glance at Pansy, who was plastered to Neville, swaying against him like she was drunk. Actually, she did look drunk. Drunk with happiness. Blaise had picked up Ginny and was spinning around. Luna had convinced Seamus to dance with her. Everyone was dancing. It dawned on Draco that they were all drunk on happiness. This was the first time they had done something carefree in months, maybe years. It was certainly the first time in a long time for him.

_We can’t begin to know it, how much we really care  
I hear your voice inside me, I see your face everywhere. ___

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“I’m sorry. I’m _so _sorry for what I did.” The words were out before he could think. He gently clutched her arm. The raised lettering made him shudder and he focused on her with an intensity that made her blush.__

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“You didn’t do this.”

_Whatever we deny or embrace for worse or for better  
We belong, we belong, we belong together. ___

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“Then I’m sorry for what I didn’t do.” 

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For standing by.

For not being brave.

For not saving her from Bellatrix.

For being a coward. __

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“You know,” she pulled his neck down and whispered into his ear, “I forgave you long ago. It’s over now. We’re fine, you and me.”

He reared back slightly, stunned. How could she? How could she forgive so easily? How could she let go of the pain and suffering that his side had caused her? Was it so easy for her? Was she so good?

“I don’t deserve it.”

His shoulders were tense and he knew she could feel it. Her hand found its way to his cheek, again, and he revelled in how the warmth could make his whole body feel warm. She continued to speak softly.

“Everyone is trying to move on, Draco. So many people died for us to be here today.” She looked down at the carpet and he knew the dead were still haunting her. She looked up at him, again. “If I hadn’t forgiven you, they would have died in vain, and we would still be fighting. I don’t want to fight anymore, do you?”

He shook his head. He wondered if she had always been this wise. A know-it-all, yes, but wise? Perhaps he wasted so much of his effort on being cruel that he never stopped to think of how valid she was. A witch, more deserving of the title than most, and a good person with a heart of gold, he knew that to be true with no doubt in his mind.

“Thank you.” He absentmindedly tugged one of her curls and watched it bounce back to sit on her collarbone. “Thank you for everything. I don’t deserve it.”

She shrugged. “Thank you.”

“What do you me— why are you thanking me?”

“For letting me teach you how to dance.” She winked at him. 

“Granger?”

“Hmm.”

“What is this song called?”

“Oh, it’s called _‘We Belong’ _.” Her cheeks were red. He knew his own were getting to the same hue. He offered her another smile and, suddenly unsure why his heart was beating so hard, dipped her as the song finished. She stood back up and laughed. It was a lovely sound, one he had never heard before. They weren’t dancing any more, just standing far too close to each other, still holding hands. Over her shoulder, he saw Weasley and Potter enter the room. Potter looked confused, the Weasel looked horrified. Before either of them could cause a scene, Draco raised one pair of their joined hands to brush his lips against Hermione’s knuckles and smiled, gratefully.__

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“Another time. Your friends are waiting for you. Goodnight, Hermione.”

Before she could say anything, he was walking away towards the male dormitory. She stood there, amazed at how warm he was, and how cold she felt without him holding her.

“Hermione, what the _fuck _were you doing?!”__


End file.
